Will Ferrell is set to appear as a professional esports player in an upcoming comedy about the world of competitive video gaming, Legendary Pictures announced Tuesday.
Will Ferrell starring in an esports movie is a real thing that’s actually happening
Ricky Bobby will look to ply his trade in front of a screen.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Turner
The film will be written by Michael Kvamme and Jordan Dunn, who are also working on the script for the upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants 3.
Ferrell is well-known for playing athletes in comedies in the past, having starred as a figure skater in Blades of Glory, a NASCAR driver in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and a basketball player in Semi-Pro. The 49-year-old actor is also a massive sports fan off the screen, sometimes leading USC into battle, taking the blame for his beloved Chelsea FC’s mishaps, and promoting his new part-owned soccer team, Los Angeles FC.
As someone significantly older than most esports professionals, you can safely assume this is going to be a fish-out-of-water comedy focusing on generational differences. In esports, most players peak in their late teens and early 20s and retire by the time they are 25, due to a variety of factors including the hand-eye coordination and reaction time required at the elite level of gameplay.
Evil Geniuses and Fnatic, two real-life esports organizations, are reported to feature in the film as well. However, no information has been released regarding the two teams’ roles in the movie, or which of their esports teams will get a cameo.
Founded in 1999, Evil Geniuses is based out of San Francisco and fields players in various games, including Dota 2, Starcraft II, and Halo. Fnatic, the London-based organization, got its start in 2004 and also fields a Dota 2 team, in addition to League of Legends, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive divisions.
Based on their teams, it’s likely that the two organizations will feature players from one of its common teams. However, if Ferrell ends up playing a professional in a fictional esport, Evil Geniuses and Fnatic will probably have more freedom to work with.
See More:
